At the last municipal plenary session, the expropriation of two plots of land was approved to carry out the works to raise the reservoir that supplies water to the city.
The Fraga City Council has taken another step towards the project to raise the reservoir that regulates the town's water supply. At the regular plenary session held this Thursday in May, the Council, with the support of all political groups, approved the expropriation of two plots of land for an appraised value of €8.714,83, a necessary step to proceed with the raising of the reservoir. The total budget for these works amounts to €277.828,25 and, together with the renewal of the supply pipeline, will reduce losses and ensure the water supply for the population.
On the other hand, the council also unanimously approved a supplementary budget allocation of €45.000 to the subsidy for routine facade maintenance, the renovation of structural elements, roofs, and woodwork, and the improvement of indoor hygiene in buildings. This allocation, intended to improve buildings in the Historic Quarter and properties over 50 years old, was supplemented because it received applications exceeding the initially budgeted amount of €83.500. Following this budget amendment, the subsidy now totals €128.500 and is expected to cover all applications.
The same point also contemplated a supplementary credit worth 32.500 euros to cover the cost of the free public transport service for the Pilar Festival, as well as the urgent need to clean and repair damage to the bus station.
In the same session, the following were also approved: the declaration of the contract for the sale of the use of industrial plants as void, the awarding of the use of pastures, a modification of the Tax Ordinances by which the price of the normal bus ticket -obligated by contract- goes from 1 euro to 1,05 euros, the authorization of the modification of the concession agreement for the private use of the CF Fraga I solar park, the declaration of a surplus plot in Monzón street, a transactional agreement relating to the eviction in Regiones, an economic and financial feasibility study of the regulated parking contract and the declaration of two vacant Local Police positions.
The only item that did not receive approval was the proposal from the Socialist municipal group demanding an update to the tax breaks established in Article 7.1.e) of the Property Tax, relating to rural buildings. On this point, the PSOE and VOX voted in favor, Entre Todos Bajo/Baix Cinca abstained, and the People's Party voted against.
In this regard, Mayor Ignacio Gramún has argued that “we maintain that this is a typical proposal from the opposition benches, which is legitimate, but we are a governing team and we have to find positions that maintain a balance with all sectors of the population.”
“Agriculture is not going through its best times, that’s clear, but there are other sectors that are also not going through their best times, such as commerce or transport,” commented the mayor, who assured that this type of measure would “enter a spiral that would not be good at all for the treasury of the City Council itself and, furthermore, we would not solve the real problems of the primary sector either.”
Finally, Gramún argued that no taxes had been raised during the five years the People's Party was in power. "If we compare this to the current CPI, it would be roughly equivalent to a tax reduction of approximately 13%, which I think is important for all residents of Fraga to know," the mayor concluded.
